The Internet of Things (IoT) is a global network of connected physical and virtual objects that enables these objects to collect and exchange information and control each other. With the changing scope of applications of the internet shifting towards making the physical world smarter there is no doubt that a shift is occurring in the number of connected devices. Within 5 years it is estimated that 50 billion devices will be online. PCs, laptops and smart devices which dominate the internet at present will be dwarfed in number by these physical objects. The prerequisites of Internet of Things are many, although the main components can be categorized into three categories i.e. intelligence, sensing and communication.
Broadband Internet is become more widely available, the cost of connecting is decreasing, more devices are being created with Wi-Fi capabilities and sensors built into them, technology costs are going down, and smartphone penetration is skyrocketing. All of these things are creating a “perfect storm” for the IoT. The Internet of Things refers to the connectivity and inter-connectivity of devices, objects, people and places. Many of these new “things” which never used to have any intelligence, now communicate via a network using a variety of protocols (I-P, RFID, NFC, ZigBee, etc.). In some instances these “things” also communicate with applications, people and one another.
The growth of IoT devices will have important implications for people and businesses. Homes and consumers will acquire more devices that need support. Businesses and those providing managed services/maintenance and tech support will need to have more ways to support their customers. More devices added to networks adds more convenience to daily lives but can also cause many new problems. Also, connected devices have more intelligence than ordinary objects. This means they need support, maintenance and troubleshooting. At the same time, most consumers still have a “this should work” mentality. This means competing for consumer spending on maintenance and support—is difficult, but necessary.
More connected devices bring about greater concerns over security, data and privacy. The network will become central to a business or home's safety and security because more IoT devices will depend on it to do their job. Given the lack of IoT device standards at this point, most devices do not communicate with one another. They are designed to be self contained and separate and therefore each have their own procedure and system for troubleshooting and support.